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The crazy Qualcomm crowd grew even louder into a fever pitch. The Bolts stayed on the field well after the game ended, giving high-fives to the fans while saluting them.

After a crazy day, the San Diego Chargers were in the playoffs!

As euphoric as the scene was on the field and in the locker room the Chargers know it is only the first step. They are in the tournament; now they want to do some damage.

“That’s the first goal,” Head Coach Mike McCoy said about making the postseason. “Obviously there are certain things you set aside for the team as goals early in the year, but you have to get in the tournament and that’s the number one thing….We have to play our best game next week. We’re going on the road and it’s all or nothing. And that’s how we have to play every game. Every snap matters and it’s critical at every play. We have to protect the football. We’re going into a hostile environment. It’s going to be the San Diego Chargers against the world next week.”

Nick Hardwick is no stranger to playoff football, even though the Chargers haven’t been in it since 2009. Still, as he told his teammates, there is nothing quite like it.

“There is nothing better in life than a playoff football game,” he beamed. “It is so fun to be a part of. We need to go win this one.”

Antonio Gates is another veteran who knows how hard it is to win in the playoffs, and is making sure the rest of the team realizes it.

“It feels good,” he said. “I’ll tell you what, when you start OTA’s and training camp and you think about all the days and hard work you put in, this is what it is for – to be able to go out and have the chance to win the Lombardi trophy. We are in a position where we can do that. Now it is time for us to just take advantage of that.”

Like most of the Bolts, this is Cam Thomas’ first trip into the postseason. He, like the rest, isn’t satisfied to simply make it.

“Wow, we live to see another day,” he said. “We get to keep going. Some teams are not able to have this opportunity and we’re one of the ones who get that opportunity to keep going. Now we’ve got to just take advantage of it.”

While the team is focused on making some noise in the playoffs, they are taking time to appreciate what it was they just accomplished.

“You just see the joy when you see the guys,” said Philip Rivers. “I know you’re around it a little more than just the every fan to see how much we put in, and how hard it is day in and day out. You see the emotion. I was emotional after just because we’re in. We got in. That’s not a destination, we want to do more than just get in, but it’s been a long time since we’d gotten in. We had some rough goes to get there and really overcome what we did.” Read